The Girls in the Snow (Nikki Hunt #1) - Stacy Green Page 0,105

house.

A loud crack sent a wave of fear through her. She stood motionless, listening. A full sixty seconds passed and no one came into the room, so she pushed the bar again. It snapped away, and Nikki yanked it out of the other bracket.

She ran her hands along the door and came to a vertical space large enough to put her fingernail in. Maybe she could bust through the cheap wood.

“You can’t get out.” Bobby’s tired voice came from the other side of the door. Nikki hadn’t heard him come into the room. Had he been waiting? she wondered. Someone as slight as him could easily sneak in without her hearing if the floor was carpeted. “Mom used a bungee cord.”

As soon as the big Maine Coon had jumped onto the counter, warning bells had gone off in Nikki’s head. The cat was Bobby’s, and that was the source of the hair they’d found on both girls’ clothes. They’d probably been in this house shortly before their murders—and most likely killed here. Courtney had found cat hair inside the freezer, probably transferred from the bodies. Assuming it was a match, the girls had been taken from this house to the cabin.

Madison hadn’t carved a ‘P.’ She had tried to write ‘B V’ for Bobby Vance. The ‘B’ hadn’t been finished.

“Bobby, please let me out. I can help you.”

“I’m not stupid, Agent Hunt.”

She tried to imagine the soft-spoken boy who’d come to her defense at the diner as a killer. He wasn’t a seasoned criminal, nor was he driven by an urge to kill. Everything he’d done had been impulsive, but why would he kill Madison and Kaylee? What was Mindy’s role in all of it?

“I know you aren’t. You’re also not a cold-blooded killer.”

He didn’t answer.

Nikki peered out between the door slats. “Can I talk to your mom?”

“She’s not here. She went to the store to stock up on stuff before we leave.”

What did they plan to do with her?

She had to stay levelheaded. She could talk her way out of this.

“Where are you going?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why did you kill Madison and Kaylee, Bobby? I know you cared about Maddie,” Nikki said. “It was obvious every time we talked about her.”

“That was before I knew her dad killed mine.” His voice dripped with anger.

“I thought your father died by suicide.”

“How’d you know that?”

She hadn’t been sure, but she’d started to wonder after Mindy said the life insurance refused to pay out. A company like Roan Pharmaceuticals had good insurance, but if an employee hadn’t been on the policy long enough, a lot of companies fought paying out if the cause of death had been ruled a suicide. “That’s my job. Why did he do it?”

Nikki heard a click, and then light filtered through the door. “Because John Banks made him keep his secret about what happened at the party the night your parents were murdered.”

“Listen to me,” Nikki said. “I know now that John killed my parents. I also know he’s harmed other women. That’s what he did to me that night.”

“And Mark Todd went to prison. My dad drank because of his guilt and then finally killed himself. John Banks is still a free man.”

“I promise you he’s not going to be a free man much longer,” Nikki said. “I can find him, but you’ve got to let me out of here.”

“Can’t do it.” His voiced cracked.

“What about Kaylee? Why did you kill her?”

“I really liked her.” Some of the venom drained from his voice. “That was an accident.”

“I believe you,” Nikki said. “I could tell you were a good kid as soon as I met you. Sometimes things get out of our control, and we get caught up in other people’s problems. Is that what happened?” She had to wonder if Bobby was Mindy’s puppet in her desperate need for revenge against John.

“It was still my fault.”

“What happened?” Nikki could tell that he was desperate to tell someone. It was why Bobby had spent so much time opening up to her—each time they’d spoken about the case, he seemed relieved. As if his conscience was eating him from the inside out. “Bobby, I think deep down, you know you can trust me.” Nikki wished she could make eye contact with him. Eyes were the easiest to read.

“I know you know what it’s like,” he said. “For one moment to change everything. I didn’t kill your parents. I wasn’t even born. But what John did that night ruined